Chelsea is down to the bare bones for the Champions League

Chelsea knows it is an uphill battle to overcome Bayern Munich, but it is made all the harder now due to injuries and suspensions.

Frank Lampard’s tactical style and training style both share similarities to Jurgen Klopp’s. That is why it should come as little surprise that while the team’s bodies are being built up physically, injuries will and have been rife throughout the squad.

Heading into the FA Cup final, Chelsea looked as though they were the healthiest they had been in some time. Then Willian pulled out injured. Christian Pulisic and Cesar Azpilicueta both left the field with hamstring injuries. Others have little knocks here and there.

With a difficult match against Bayern Munich approaching, Chelsea is down to the bare bones. An already difficult match has become all the harder. Frank Lampard will have a tough time putting together and XI that can over come the deficit.

The keeper position is alright, so far as it can be anyways. Kepa Arrizabalaga is surely in the dog house waiting for someone else to let him out. Willy Caballero will start and that is okay, though clearly not ideal for a club like Chelsea.

Defense will be patch work. No Cesar Azpilicueta means Reece James will start. Antonio Rudiger, Kurt Zouma, and Andreas Christensen could line up in a back three together, but only one of those players looked like he remembered how to walk against Arsenal. Emerson is person non grata so Marcos Alonso is sure to start.

Midfield is another issue thanks to Jorginho. No, not anything to do with his play style; he is suspended. With Billy Gilmour and Ruben Loftus-Cheek also injured, if Lampard sticks with 3-4-3 he will have to pray N’Golo Kante is fit enough to start with Mateo Kovacic. Otherwise, he may have to try Kovacic at the base with Mason Mount and Ross Barkley in a 4-3-3. Attacking? Sure. Able to defend? Probably not.

The forward line will see Pedro and Chrsitian Pulisic missing. Willian will not risk a move if he is even a tiny bit of discomfort. That leaves Callum Hudson-Odoi to start as a wide player and pretty much no one else depending on other factors.

Basically, everything will come down to N’Golo Kante. If he is fit, Lampard will probably try a 3-4-3 again and hope his side can actually figure out how to defend in it. But without Kante, he will have to take big risks to make a 3-4-3 viable and none of those risks are worth more than what he would have to take in another formation.

4-3-3 is probably not going to happen without Kante either, given how light the team is on the wing and how the alternatives will be needed in midfield. So if Kante is not fit, Lampard will have to try something new.

The two alternatives he could attempt are the 3-5-2 and a 4-diamond-2. Both would clog up the central areas of the pitch and put a ton of attacking and defending load on James and Alonso. There may be little other choice. With only three of the full time forwards fit, they will pick themselves. The full backs/wing backs pick themselves. That leaves the decision on whether Lampard wants more midfielders (almost all of whom will be more attacking) or more defenders (almost all of whom struggle to defend, but that would be more of an issue with less of them too).

Lampard will have a tough decision to make if Kante is not  available. The odds are against Chelsea even more so now and only a creative solution or some good luck may tip them closer to the other way.